Awakened Surge of Killing Intent
by Baluar
Summary: As Akuma trains, a dark presence approaches. Ryu has given in to the Satsui no Hado, and this is the chance of a fight to the death Akuma has always desired. Yet something is not right...


For the fiftieth time that day, Akuma went through the motions he had performed thousands of times before and fired a Gohadoken to the sky, watching the ball of ki travel far until its light became too weak for the naked eye to see.

Clenching his powerful fist to calm his inner demon, the dark man took an instant to regain his breath before firing another Gohadoken to a nearby rock, pulverizing it.

His power was one many would kill to possess. A small smirk appeared ever so briefly in Akuma's face, as the irony was not lost on him. But it was not easy to maintain balance of the Hado. All too constantly he heard the whispers of the evil intent, trying to make him lose what remained of his humanity. He was no saint, he knew that all too well, but to surrender to the Hado so thoroughly was a line not even he was willing to cross.

His inner demons were stronger than those of most, gnawing at his consciousness, begging for wanton carnage and destruction. But he kept them in check just fine.

He sensed a powerful source of ki approaching. He saw enough of it to recognize its owner, but it felt uncharacteristically dark. Without turning, Akuma began speaking.

-Have you come to, boy? Have you overcome your limits...?

The answer was not verbal, but it came in the form of a sudden rush of ki headed towards him. Reflexively, Akuma stepped aside, and saw the Hadoken Ryu had fired was a jagged, dark purple sphere. The color of the Hado, unrestrained.

This was not how he expected the young man would embrace the Hado. In that Hadoken there was no restraint to the murderous intent, no trace of anything other than thirst for blood and destruction.

Akuma turned and saw the boy emanated a visible red aura, and his gi was torn and purple. His hair was spiked and red, and his red headband floated behind him.

The older man remained silent as he adopted a fighting stance. This was not a true fight to the death, there was little honor in defeating or being defeated by an engine of destruction. He would have to defeat the boy and have him regain his senses.

\--

Defeating the crazed man in front of him proved laughably easy. Though his power had grown immensely, there was little technique behind his attacks; meanwhile, Akuma's own power was comparable, and the older man had all the finesse his decades of training had granted him.

The boy was pushed back as Akuma attacked with a Tatsumaki Zankukyaku, and the more experienced man followed with a Goshoryu that knocked his rival far. Ryu grunted in pain and attacked with a Tenmakujinkyaku, but his rival saw the incoming attack and countered with a Messatsu Goshoryu, knocking his opponent out cold. The fiery aura vanished, and Ryu returned to a normal state.

The redheaded man approached his adversary and shook him bluntly, waking him from his stupor. Akuma stepped backwards as Ryu tried to stumble to a fighting stance.

-Akuma?! I don't know what this is, but...

-Leave.

-What? - Ryu asked, bewildered. - What happened?

-You let yourself be mastered by the Hado. I defeated you and you returned to your senses. _Leave_.

-But isn't that what you always wanted? For me to give in to it?

Akuma grunted before answering.

-You must master it to prove a worthy opponent. You proved pathetically easy to defeat. I will not say this again. _Leave this place, now_.

Despite being dizzy from just having regained his consciousness and understanding little of what was going on, Ryu noticed the anger behind Akuma's voice, and realizing this was an uncommon mercy, quickly took his leave.

" _Fool! To struggle vainly against such power only to give into it in the end, when he should embrace and conquer it instead of letting it master him like a wild beast._ "

Breathing heavily, Akuma stood still for a minute, watching the boy leave before resuming his training. He channeled his energy as he shot a Shakunetsu Hadoken towards a fallen tree, making it catch on fire.

Perhaps in the future the boy would master the power and come fight him as an equal. Until then, he would train. Nothing else mattered.


End file.
